Joseph Haydn was born in the village of Rohrau in 1732, the son of a
wheelwright. Trained at the choir-school of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna,
he spent some years earning a living as best he could from teaching and playing
the violin or keyboard, and was able to learn from the old musician Porpora,
whose assistant he became. Haydn's first appointment was in 1759 as
Kapellmeister to a Bohemian nobleman, Count von Morzin. This was followed in
1761 by employment as Vice-Kapellmeister to one of the richest men in the
Empire, Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, succeeded on his death in 1762 by his
brother Prince Nikolaus. On the death in 1766 of the elderly and somewhat
obstructive Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, Haydn succeeded to his position, to
remain in the same employment, nominally at least, for the rest of his life.

On the completion under the new Prince of the magnificent palace at
Esterháza, built on the site of a former hunting-lodge set on the Hungarian
plains, Haydn assumed command of an increased musical establishment. Here he had
responsibility for the musical activities of the palace, which included the
provision and direction of instrumental music, opera and theatre music, and
music for the church. For his patron he provided a quantity of chamber music of
all kinds, particularly for the Prince's own peculiar instrument, the baryton, a
bowed string instrument with sympathetic strings that could also be plucked.

On the death of Prince Nikolaus in 1790, Haydn was able to accept an
invitation to visit London, where he provided music for the concert season
organized by the violinist-impresario Salomon. A second successful visit to
London in 1794 and 1795 was followed by a return to duty with the Esterházy
family, the new head of which had settled principally at the family property in
Eisenstadt, where Haydn had started his career. Much of the year, however, was
to be spent in Vienna, where Haydn passed his final years, dying in 1809, as the
French armies of Napoleon approached the city yet again.

Whether Haydn was the father of the symphony is a question best left to
musical genealogists. His career, however, spanned the period during which the
classical symphony developed as the principal orchestral form. He himself
certainly played a major part in this development, from his first symphony some
time before 1759 to his final series of symphonies written for the greater
resources of London in 1794 and 1795. The London symphonies were preceded by
similar works for Paris and a much larger body of compositions of more modest
scoring for the orchestra at Esterháza and at Eisenstadt, many of the last
calling for a keyboard continuo, at least with the relatively smaller number of
string players available.

Haydn landed in England for the first time on New Year's Day 1791, shortly
afterwards reaching London, where he lodged with the violinist-impresario Johann
Peter Salomon, who had arranged the visit. The Salomon concert season began
eventually on 11th March in the Hanover Square Rooms, where Johann Christian
Bach and his colleague Carl Friedrich Abel had earlier established a series of
subscription concerts. Salomon's orchestra at this time consisted of some forty
highly competent performers and it was for them that Haydn wrote the first of
his Salomon or London Symphonies. In June the season came to an
end and in July Haydn travelled to Oxford, where he took part in a series of
concerts and received the degree of Doctor of Music. Salomon's 1792 season in
Hanover Square began in February.

Symphony No.97 was apparently first performed at an additional benefit
concert for Haydn, given on 3rd May. The symphony was repeated at the tenth
concert of the Salomon series the following evening. Scored for pairs of flutes,
oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and drums, with strings, and directed in these
first performances by the composer at the piano, the work opens with a slow
introduction, using melodic material closely related to the ending of the
exposition and to the coda that concludes the movement. The Vivaceopens
triumphantly with a fanfare figure shared by the whole orchestra, leading to a
lilting second subject. The central development brings back the triadic first
subject, at first in E flat, then in D major, to be developed in interplay
between the instruments. The F major slow movement is introduced by the strings,
the principal theme punctuated by chords from woodwind and horns. The theme is
then varied, with the first violins launching into triplets, to be followed by
an F minor version of the material. The next variation is to be played al
ponticello, near the bridge of the violins, firsts now doubled by seconds in
semiquavers. A coda follows. The Minuet makes use of dynamic contrasts and
frames a Trio that takes the first violins into the heights. There are
structural surprises in the Finale, where the first subject unexpectedly
contains a middle section in the dominant, while the second subject is first
heard in the tonic, the key in which the central development opens. There are
further surprises as the movement takes its course.

Symphony No.98 in B flat major has been introduced to the London public
two months earlier at the third Salomon concert, given at the Hanover Square
Rooms on 2nd March. Following the general practice in these concerts, the new
symphony opened the second part of the programme, which was as varied as ever,
including songs, symphonies, concertos for cello and for violin, as well as a
clarinet quartet. The symphony differs in scoring from Symphony No. 97 by
the omission of one of the two flutes and in its unusual requirement of B flat
trumpets. Again there is a slow introduction, beginning in B flat minor, its
slowly ascending triad recalled in the opening of the Allegro. The same theme is
heard in the dominant before the second subject proper, entrusted to the oboe,
its long, sustained notes accompanied by repeated quavers in violins and violas.
The opening figure of the Allegro provides material for the start of the central
development, duly to re-appear to start the recapitulation and to dominate the
final coda. The Adagio is in F major, its principal theme a hymn that suggests
the anthem "God save the King". The material is movingly developed and
the recapitulation opens with the accompaniment of a solo cello. Trumpets and
drums, omitted from the slow movement, return in the forthright Minuet,
remaining silent with the horns in the Trio, with its doubling of first violins
and bassoon. The Finale allows the first violins to state the principal theme,
echoed by a solo oboe. The development calls for a solo violin, in a contrast of
texture, while the extended coda slows the main theme, only to rush onward in
notes of shorter value, its final bars allowing Haydn, at the keyboard, to add
further modest embellishments in a series of accompanying arpeggios.

Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia
The Hungarian Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia was formed in1992 from members of
the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra by Ibolya Tóth, of the Hungarian Phoenix
Studio. The Sinfonia has among its musicians the principal wind-players of the
Symphony Orchestra, many of whom have already recorded concertos for Naxos. The
conductor of the Sinfonia is the flautist Béla Drahos.

Béla Drahos
Béla Drahos was born in Kaposvar in South-West Hungary in 1955 and entered
the Györ Conservatory in 1969, winning first prize in the Concertino Prague '71
International Flute Competition and a year later in the flute competition staged
by Hungarian Television. Study at the Liszt Academy in Budapest led to
graduation with distinction in 1978, after a further award in Prague and in 1979
at the Bratislava Interpodium, and further distinction, including the Hungarian
Liszt Prize in 1985, selection as Artist of the Year in Hungary in 1986 and the
Bartók-Pásztory Prize in 1988. Béla Drahos is the leader and founding member
of the Hungarian Radio Wind Quintet and since 1976 has served as Principal
Flautist of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra. His concert career has included
performances throughout Europe and as far afield as New Zealand. He has more
recently embarked on a parallel career as a conductor, and in the summer of 1993
was appointed conductor of the Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra.